Projects "Budget" 58 Chrysler Windsor 4dr Hard Top

Well truth be told I need to quit bringing projects home, I have a ton of irons in the fire but this one just kind of fell into my lap. I have a buddy who was looking for a set of aluminum heads and a 3 deuce set up for a flat head ford. One of my mercury parts cars had just these parts and I was going to trade them for a parts car for my 1952 Plymouth. Well after looking at the parts car it didn't have enough useable parts on it for me to really be that interested in it. He asked if there was anything else he had that I'd be interested in and I said, "well maybe the 58 Chrysler." I could tell by the look on his face he wasn't too excited about that suggestion but after about a hour or so of thinking he agreed. He started on this car I believe about 15 to 20 years ago and then his dad passed away and he inherited his fathers 1958 Chrysler New Yorker so he quit working on this one. He has newly upholstered seats for it and door panels and a parts car in the pasture to pick parts off of. Has new fuel tank, fuel lines, and new brakes/brake lines. I do need to find a front windshield gasket and a rear window gasket as they no longer make them. My plan is to sand the surface rust off and re prime those areas, then shoot it with John Deere Blitz black to make a decent driver out of it to take the kids around in. The car is set up for a big block mopar but I want to figure out what engine mounts I need to put a small block back into it. I just want a cruiser, not looking for a race car. The car is already a mild custom with the door handles being shaved, tail lights switched for a 57, and a drawer pull grille that he made.
I am at a race against the weather with this thing because I want it on the road by spring, to be able to do that I will have to get it painted soon and it is getting colder. I will wait on my mercury until I knock this out as it is closer to getting done.

 

That is an awesome car!! I absolutely love forward looking mopars. If you have the big block engine mounts I would be interested in buying them!!

 

I do have them, I think they are fabricated. The big block is still currently in it but has to come out. It is locked up and part of the deal was he got the 383 back.

 

If you are interested could you pm me some pictures of them? When you get there no rush!! I have a ‘59 Dodge Regent that is getting a big block

 

Will do, does yours currently have a small block?

 

I can't offer too much input into what is required to install a small block (mopar?) in a 58 Windsor, but here's some pics of what the original mounts looked like. They were used on all V8 Mopars from 1957-59:

The engine your car originally came with: 354CI Polyhead

Mounts bolt to the engine and have a rubber cylinder in that cup that bolts to the frame.

^That's what the inserts look like. They're available from multiple online parts suppliers.

One think you should know, the 1958 Windsor is built on a Dodge Chassis, so all the parts you'll need can be sourced by using 1958 Dodge and that should eliminate any confusion about axle seal diameter, bearing size, etc...


Here's that same mount on a 1959 Chrysler Windsor with the 383ci Big Block.

Since Big block and small block share mounting points, I'd be willing to bet that if you can find a set of these style mounts, you can bolt them to the small block mounting ears on the block and bolt right into your chassis.

~Peter

 

No motor or transmission when I got the car

 

Those are the ones! I didn’t know they were the same between poly and big blocks though.

 

Yep, same as the ones on the 325-Poly in this 1957 Dodge:

Though the 1957 version has a different insert from the factory, but the replacements above work on them as well.

And note how 1957 has the mount at a severe angle towards the center line of the car, while the 1958-59 style sits closer to horizontal. That reduced pressure on the bottom of the mount and spread the load a little better.

~Peter

 

So the rubber motor mount is in a cylinder ?
Is closer to fail safe than the infamous GM mounts that earned a recall for a 6.6 million cars ?

https://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/motor-mount-recall/

 

ForwardLook Mopar hardtop, on a budget, I'm definitely into this project. Keep in mind, the "LA" series of small block Mopar engines didn't come out until the mid 60's, so a 318 or 360 was never engineered to bolt into this car. Not saying it can't be done, I'm sure it can, but it might not be a straight nuts and bolts swap. I do know the bellhousing pattern changed in the early 60's as well, (or is it the pattern on the back of the crank? Something like that), either way you can't bolt a late 60's engine up to the original trans directly.

 

EDIT
The original trans is long gone as well. I was told that the original poly 354 mounts will bolt to my small block and go back into factory location, however I am missing those mounts completely. I'm thinking a 318 with a 904 automatic. I do however have a 360 with a 727 but I'm thinking that might suck too much fuel.

 

The 354 Poly heads only bolt to 331-392 Chrysler hemi/Poly blocks. No interchange with the wedge motors.

Good choice with a 318, though I'd recommend looking for an early 90's dodge truck and get the A518/44RE AOD transmission. A vast improvement over the aluminum torqueflite, the overdrive gear really helps on modern freeways.

Keep in mind that the emergency brake originally was on the transmission tailshaft of your Windsor. So swapping to a newer trans means having to either swap rear ends for a newer style 8 3/4 or trying to fab some kind of disk brake off the pinion yoke like a lot of drag cars have.

~Peter

 

Sorry I typed heads but meant engine mounts, don't know how I did that but I did lol. I do have a a 518 and a 318 magnum motor that I carbureted I may throw in it.

@caprockfabshop I also forgot to say thank you for those pictures, they are a big help.

 

Tony,
years ago we put a 360/518 into a 57 Dodge wagon.

Use the 318/518 drive train. Cut the original brackets off the frame, and use the modern 318 motor mounts and weld the needed brackets onto the frame to bolt up the 318.

Does that car have power steering? That 57-60 power steering is some strange stuff. The OEM power steering pump won't match up to the 318, and a modern power steering pump makes the old PS into a very quick, quirky steering. I think my son had to put a pressure reducer on the modern PS pump for it to work.

 

Very nice. Subscribed.

 

Lots of great information being added to this thread, thanks!

 

I just hate welding in different brackets because I am scared I won't get it lined up correctly but I will most likely have to do that. I'm guessing I will have to find a different oil pan as all my small blocks have truck pans. This car is a non power steering car thankfully.

 

Not to hijack this thread, but;
Hey, Peter;
Since I've not seen these before, & I have what's left of a '57 Dodge 325(?) that was shoehorned(cobbled) into a '53 stude hrdtp, from the pics it looks like those motor mounts would be at least as good if not better than the old FH ford biscuit-types. Although the through-bolt "safety" feature has its' appeal.
Does the dodge/chry engine mount cup sit loose over the rubber shaft?
& does the later style mounting work better for absorbing vibrations, & longer life? The 57 version looks like it'd be real hard on hte rubber mount & have a short life? Always looking to learn, as there're many ways to skin the cat...
TIA.
&, Tony;
Great so see you saving the 4dr hrdtp. Most of those looked really good! & the large fins are to love... .
Marcus...

 

The round inserts are a very tight friction fit, sometime you have to burn out the old ones (that smells lovely) before pressing in the new inserts. I've rarely seen a blown 1958-59 motor mount, so I'd imagine longevity is good. They went to a pair of metal brackets vulcanized together in 1960 and those have a history of cracking and and the rubber releasing from the metal. But that was what was introduced for the Unibody in 1960.

~Peter

~Peter

 

Thanks.
Marcus...

 

This is an awesome project.

My buddy Jim Rawa runs B/RBs in most of his late 50s forward look Mopars. It makes too much sense not to if they are a bolt in using factory components. I've run a 383 in my car for the last 20 years and it doesn't need to be race at all. A stock cam and basic 4 barrel intake and orange box make for an excellent driver with factory street manners. And the low deck B motors are still inexpensive since everyone wants 440s.

 

I can't justify buying another big block when I have a barn full of good small blocks.

 

Fair, but you could liquidate some of those small blocks and use the proceeds for a good B/RB. I'm a big block and less work sounds more appealing than a small block and more work.

 

First pic is passenger side, second pic is drivers side but not any room to really get a pic.

 

Ok, thanks, those look like newer mounts, I’m looking for the originals like posted above. Thanks again

 

My current project is under way. Not pretty, but this what I can afford lol. I am satin blacking it and plan to drive the crap out of it. I touched up the break threw spots and hope to shoot paint on it tomorrow afternoon after I wet sand it. Please like and subscribe to follow along. I do this just for fun but enjoy sharing my projects.

 

Got a ton of work done in the last 24 hours, plan on taping it off in the morning and painting it tomorrow afternoon. Man I'm tired, lot of real estate to sand.

 

Part 3 of my 58 Chrysler Windsor build. Getting ready for paint.

 

About 20 years ago I swapped a 1974 318 into a '57 Plymouth sedan that I had. I used the mounts that came on the Poly. It bolted right up. I did have to modify the transmission mount for the 904. I used the existing power steering pump but I didn't have a problem with the way it steered. The mounts you need shouldn't be too hard to get.